Niger State governor Mohammed Umaru Bago has said he will be tough on scrap dealers who vandalise public and private property to steal scraps.
The governor, who met with the leadership of the state chapter of the Association of Scrap and Waste Dealers Employers of Nigeria yesterday, decried the increasing incidence of outright vandalism perpetrated by some scrap dealers’ agents in the state.
He said the meeting was called to find a lasting solution to the persistent vandalism of structures and theft of public and private property across the state.
He said the government will not fold its hands and allow criminal elements under the guise of scrap traders to continue defacing structures and stealing valuables unhindered.
The governor recalled a situation in which he personally caught some of them at the sites of the ongoing five-star hotel and how he swung into action to nip the trend in the bud.
He said the perpetrators of the illegal scrap deals did not spare several construction sites, including the IBB University Teaching Hospital site in Minna and road construction sites.
Bago, therefore, urged the leaders of the scrap dealers to sanitise the association by devising means of identifying its members and helping to fish out the bad eggs among them.
He said another meeting with all the critical stakeholders of the association across the 25 local government areas and heads of security agencies in the state will be held to review the association’s operational guidelines. He warned that an executive bill will be sent to the State Assembly in that regard, and violators will be prosecuted.
